Before starting The Doors, Manzarek grew up on the South Side, attending Everett Elementary School and St. Rita High School before enrolling at DePaul, where he graduated with an economics degree.

After that, he headed west to UCLA where he met poet Jim Morrison in 1965 and formed the Doors. Until Morrison's death in 1971 the moody, often psychedelic band was enshrined in the pantheon of 1960s rock stardom thanks to songs such as "L.A.Woman," "Break On Through to the Other Side," "The End," "Hello, I Love You," and "Light My Fire." In 2002, Manzarek began touring again with Doors guitarist and long-time collaborator Robby Krieger."

Here's a YouTube video for "Light My Fire," performed by The Doors in Europe in 1968, that has been viewed more than 11 million times: